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Lessons (episode)
Picard falls in love with one of his subordinates, but he can't deal with having to order her into dangerous situations. Summary Teaser Captain Picard is up and active early in the morning. He finds that stellar cartography has ordered the shutdown of several systems he wishes to use, such as communications, the library computer and even the replicator. He decides to head down there and meets the new head of the department, Lieutenant commander Nella Daren: she is very strong-willed and he instantly takes a liking to her. Act One The Enterprise is heading to the Borgolis Nebula for scientific study. Picard says it will be interesting to see what comes out of it. He heads to dinner with Doctor Crusher and, during, brings up Daren and her research since it captured his interest. Afterwards, they head to a musical performance with Commander Data, Ensign Cheney and, to Picard surprise, Commander Daren on piano. They begin with Chopin's Trio in G minor. After the concert is a reception. Picard and Crusher congratulate Data and Daren, and Data notices the increased applause volume. Data and Crusher leave to congratulate Cheney, leaving Picard and Daren. They have a brief discussion about her performance during which she discovers that he is an amateur musician. He remarks on her musical choices, and she replies that he should expect the unexpected, echoing his remark to her earlier. Act Two Daren goes to Riker to request more time on the arrays since her team is in the middle of something. However, it's already been claimed by engineering. She pushes, but Riker can only promise to give her time tomorrow. She has to live with it. Daren comes to Picard's quarters as he is working on Bach's Third Brandenburg Concerto. She is immediately interested in the Ressikan flute he is playing, and asks how long he has played it. He simply responds, "a long time" and initially refrains from playing in front of her. She asks to try it, and he ends up demonstrating. She entices him to join her in duet while she plays along with a portable piano. He's having a lot of fun with the improvisations she brings out in him. The next day, both Picard and Daren are in a great mood. Picard asks Riker to fence with him jovially. Riker says he's not good, but, like Daren said last night, Picard replies "it doesn't matter as long as you enjoy it." Daren, meanwhile, gets treated for an arm strain in sickbay, informing Crusher that she spent time with Picard the previous night. The two begin playing duets on a regular basis. Daren brings Picard that night to the fourth intersect in Jefferies tube 25, which she says is the most acoustically perfect spot on the ship. Picard shares with her the folk melody he learned during life as Kamin on the planet Kataan, but does not tell her its origin. The two begin playing a duet of the melody, which could be heard in main engineering by Geordi La Forge who, confused, enters the Jefferies tube junction to try and work out where it is coming from. However, when Data enters the junction too, the music has stopped, because back in the tube, Picard and Daren are sharing a passionate kiss. Act Three Later, Picard and Daren ride in a turbolift when another crew member enters. Picard immediately stops their personal conversation and changes his demeanor to professional and gets off at his stop. In the meantime, The Federation outpost at Bersallis III reports a period of fire storms beginning and the Enterprise goes to study the phenomenon. In his ready room, Picard asks Counselor Troi about his relationship with Daren, expressing his concerns that becoming involved with a subordinate could compromise his objectivity. Troi reassures him, so he then goes to stellar cartography to talk to Daren. He apologizes for his behavior in the turbolift, and assures her that he is just inexperienced with this type of relationship. He also assures her that he is not given to casual relationships. He takes her to his quarters and explains to her the story of his time as Kamin, and the significance of his music to him. Daren catches Commander Riker to ask about Cabot's transfer to her department from quantum mechanics. He doesn't want to grant the request, but feels uncomfortable due to her relationship with Captain Picard. He discusses this with Picard who assures him that he is free to do his job as usual. Picard later shares the experience with Daren and explains that they need to be aware of other people's perceptions. They get on with their evening when Worf reports in that the firestorms on Bersallis III have changed their speed and heading and begin to head towards the outpost. They request evacuation, and so Picard has to leave. Act Four In the observation lounge, the senior staff as well as Daren and Marquez discuss the situation. They determine that there will not be enough time to evacuate. Daren suggests using thermal deflector units that she used to study a plasma geyser on Melnos IV to create a "firewall" to block the storms temporarily. La Forge and Data confirm the idea, stating that the units require personnel to operate. Picard approves and Riker gets to work, ordering Commander Daren to lead the deflector deployment, Data to coordinate the evacuation, Marquez to track the storm, and Crusher to get their patients up to the Enterprise. When everyone is dismissed, Picard expresses concern for Daren, but she reminds him that they agreed not to let the relationship get in the way of their work. The Enterprise arrives at the planet. Marquez beams down first and informs them they have 50 minutes before the storm hits. In the hustle of the rest of the team getting in place to transport, Daren and Picard share a silent last look. Act Five The team has been on the planet for 30 minutes. Progress is good, though the storm gains speed and the ionization from the storm slows down the evacuation efforts. Soon, all of the infirmary patients are brought aboard. They realize the deflector teams will need to stay near the deflectors since the remote control won't work. All of the colonists are evacuated, but the storm reaches the perimeter before the last two perimeter teams, including Daren's, cannot be retrieved. Worried that something might have happened to her, Picard reflects on the situation in his quarters when he is informed by Worf that survivors have been discovered. He goes to the transporter room, but does not find Daren among them. As he is about to leave, Daren is beamed aboard with another survivor, Deng. Eight crew members ultimately lose their lives. Later, Daren explains to Picard how they managed to survive by modifying their phasers to create pockets of safety. She and Deng survived but they lost . Picard tells her about the moment in his quarters when he thought that she was dead. He tells her that he has lost people under his command, people who were very dear to him, but never someone he has been in love with. And when he believed that she was dead, he began to shut down: he did not want to think or feel. That was when he retreated and felt that the only thing remaining to him was his music, and how it would never again give him joy. Picard and Daren realize that they can never have a relationship while she is under his command where he is responsible for putting her life in jeopardy in the line of duty. They discuss whether one of them could give up their career and follow the other, but immediately realize that this would not be satisfactory. Hence, Daren decides to apply for transfer. Picard suggests that they coordinate their shore leaves together, but both know that their relationship will never be the same again. The two share one last kiss and she asks Picard to promise her that he will not give up his music. Memorable quotes "Whoever you are, you just ruined four hours of work." "You might have taken the simple precaution of locking the door." : - Nella Daren to Picard after he accidentally destroyed a delicate experiment Stellar Cartography was running "Well, you're new on the ''Enterprise. You'll have to learn to expect the unexpected." : - '''Picard', to Daren "I noticed that the applause this evening exceeded average decibel levels." "I guess that means they enjoyed themselves." "I think that much was obvious." : - Data, Nella Daren and Picard after the concert "Well captain, now that I'm on your ship maybe you should start expecting the unexpected." : - Nella Daren, to Picard "Excellent. Now perhaps you can tell me what was so important that it required depriving the captain of his cup of Earl Grey." : - Picard, to Daren "I can assure you that I am not given to casual relationships." : - Picard, to Daren "Do you know where we are?" "Yes, this the the fourth intersect in Jefferies tube twenty five." "No – this is the most acoustically perfect spot on this ship." : - Nella Daren and Jean-Luc Picard Background information Production history * Final draft script: * Premiere airdate: * First UK airdate: Sets and props * The stellar cartography department is first seen in this episode, though is much less elaborate than in . * While Picard and Daren are playing music in the Jefferies tube, one can see that a matte painting is used to simulate a long access tunnel. This is the third time on The Next Generation following the episodes and . * As the camera zooms out while Picard and Daren are playing, Daren's portable piano can clearly be seen on a stand. * Picard's beloved Ressikan flute, which he learned to play during , makes several appearances during this episode. Video and DVD releases * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 73, catalog number VHR 2731, * As part of the TNG Season 6 DVD collection * As part of the Region 2 release of the Star Trek: The Next Generation - Jean-Luc Picard Collection Links and references Starring * Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard * Jonathan Frakes as Cmdr. William Riker Also starring * LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge * Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf * Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher * Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi * Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data Special guest star * Wendy Hughes as Nella Daren Co-star * Majel Barrett as Computer Voice Uncredited co-stars * David Keith Anderson as Armstrong * Carl David Burks as Russell * Tracee Cocco as Jae * R. Cox as Marquez * Debra Dilley as operations division ensign * Gunnel Eriksson as science division officer * Grace Harrell as civilian * Hawthorne as science division officer * Kerry Hoyt as operations division ensign * Gary Hunter as science division officer * Ron Large as command division officer * Lorine Mendell as Diana Giddings * Rad Milo as operations division ensign * Michael Moorehead as science division ensign * Joyce Robinson as Gates * Sissy Sessions as operations division ensign * Noriko Suzuki as operations division ensign * John Tampoya as operations division ensign * Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace * Unknown performers as ** Cheney ** Deng ** Eleven Bersallis III colonists ** Female science division officer ** Female science division officer ** Five command division officers ** Gates (voice) ** Marquez (voice) ** Richardson ** Ten Forward waitress ** Transporter chief (voice) ** Two Starfleet officers (voices) Stand-ins * David Keith Anderson – stand-in for LeVar Burton * Carl David Burks – stand-in for Brent Spiner * Michael Echols – stand-in for Michael Dorn * Nora Leonhardt – stand-in for Marina Sirtis * Lorine Mendell – stand-in for Gates McFadden * Richard Sarstedt – stand-in for Jonathan Frakes * Dennis Tracy – stand-in for Patrick Stewart References arpeggio; ; Beck; Bersallin sun; Bersallis III; Bersallis system; Borgolis Nebula; Cabot; Celsius; ; chord; ; Daren herbal tea blend number three; duet; Earl Grey tea; Federation; fire storm; Frère Jacques; ; herbal tea; Jefferies tube; Kataan; Kataan probe; Kerelian; kiss; Landris II; Mataline II; Mataline II piano; Melnos IV; Mowray; Number one; nurse; obstetrics specialist; piano; plasma geyser; quantum mechanics; Ressik; Ressikan flute; shore leave; Starbase 218; stellar cartography; stellar cartography department; tenor; Thelka IV; thermal deflector unit; Third Brandenburg Concerto; Trio in G minor; turbolift External links * * * * |next= }} de:Der Feuersturm es:Lessons fr:Lessons (épisode) it:Amore e dovere (episodio) ja:ギャラクシー・ロマンス（エピソード） nl:Lessons pl:Lessons Category:TNG episodes